Ball in general, life on the road… on this blog, either you do or you don't.

Note of the night/Stat of the day, July 7

Note of the night, 1: Quite a few things contributed to Evan MacLane pitching in the ninth inning on Wednesday, but one of them was that Dennys Reyes was unavailable due to illness.

TLR said after the game that Reyes might well not have pitched in that situation anyway, but that nonetheless Reyes was ill. Reyes confirmed shortly thereafter that he is dealing with an infection and not feeling well.

He said he’s been dealing with it for a couple of days, and that it’s not necessarily worse today than yesterday. Of course, Reyes pitched yesterday, so it’s not entirely clear what exactly the situation is.

Note of the night, 2: Going back to last night (so skip this if you so desire), we had the chance to ask TLR this afternoon about a few of the ninth-inning decisions from Tuesday night.

He stood by the decision to play no-doubles with Carlos Gonzalez at the plate. His argument was that since Gonzalez was the tying run, you wanted to make sure that he didn’t get into scoring position. To my mind, it’s still the opposite — even first base is scoring position with Gonzalez on base and Giambi at the plate, and if you get the out, the game ends. But that’s the manager’s stance, and I figured I ought to pass it along.

He also stood by the decision not to remove Franklin, though I got the impression he was less certain of that in retrospect. He was frustrated (and he wasn’t the only one) with the strike zone for Chris Iannetta, feeling that Iannetta should have been struck out before he ever went deep. He essentially argued that for a good bit of that inning, Franklin hadn’t really done that much wrong.

“The only reason I would have gotten him was just the number of pitches and the game was tied. Just to preserve him for tonight.”

I still believe, and he didn’t dismiss this (though he didn’t confirm it, either) that if Motte or McClellan had been available, the hook would have been quicker. Usually when TLR is really convinced that a decision was right, he’s happy to defend it and present his case — as he did with the positioning on Randy Winn. In this case, there was less of a clear argument. I’m not sure he’s sure it was the right move.

Stat of the day: LeBron James has sco Whoops, sorry about that. Matt Holliday has eight extra-base hits in his last eight games. His slugging percentage has climbed from .488 to .527 in those games.

Fun with double situational splits: Albert Pujols is hitting .260 with a .370 on-base percentage and a .488 slugging percentage against right-handers on the road this year.

And, finally, the playlist:

Nina Gordon, “Tonight and the Rest of My Life”

Kings Of Leon, “Slow Night, So Long”

Rolling Stones, “Time Waits For No One”

Tanya Donelly, “World On Fire”

Pearl Jam, “Corduroy”

-M.

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7 Comments

I think this is a good time for LaRussa to pack his bags and say goodbye !!! the constant lineup changes, micro managing pitchers – the bullpen dance is pathetic . you could still salvage this season with another “great” starting pitcher. not another “has been” with 12 yrs in the minors. Can you believe that some fans are blaming this mess on Albert ?? Thank You M, for keeping this blog up and running – of course, everyone cannot agree on most things that they are passionate about – but we enjoy your work.

Why don’t we just scrap the whole team and start all over again? Why not? It makes as much sense as any of the other monday morning quarterbacking garbage that has been spewed over the internet in the last 3 days.

It’s not just Albert who has gotten blame. Add Tony, Yadi, most of the bullpen, bad karma, gremlins, UFO’s and President Obama (you had to know that one was coming).

As is often the case, I end up with the feeling that LaRussa is thinking about everything but winning the game he’s playing NOW, in the inning he’s playing NOW, with the situation that’s unfolding NOW. Yes, certainly a manager has to have contingency plans, and, unlike fans, has to think about the season in its entirety when making certain decisions. But, I have to agree with you, Matthew, that the game needed to be played to get the out right there, especially given how inconsistent the strike zone was with that home plate umpire. Imho, you need to be playing for the out, not playing to minimize the damage. Anything was going to be damage at that point.

I hope the Cardinals do whatever it takes to secure Albert,s
services for th next several years. With the addition of Holiday there is not a better 3-4 combination in the majors thats better. Albert is the kind of player that comes along maybe every 30- 40 years. He is the best player in the game. he is also a franchise player.the kind of player you build your club around. and a real honest to goodness team player. someone who puts the team success above his personal success

I hope the Cardinals do whatever it takes to secure Albert,s
services for th next several years. With the addition of Holiday there is not a better 3-4 combination in the majors thats better. Albert is the kind of player that comes along maybe every 30- 40 years. He is the best player in the game. he is also a franchise player.the kind of player you build your club around. and a real honest to goodness team player. someone who puts the team success above his personal success

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